Richard Deming (b.Apr 25, 1915 - d.Sep 5.1983) Captain in U.S. Army, social worker, employee of American Red Cross, 1976-83; wrote several novels, including Mod Squad, Dragnet, and other serializations. Deming was best known for these novels and for his work in the mystery field. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of America from 1976 until his death in 1983. In a interview Deming talked about his contract with the cousins: "I wrote several books under contract. It stipulated never to reveal which books I wrote. I can only tell you I did write ten* books as Ellery Queen. Mind you, in none of the hero by the same name actually appears. It involved ten original stories and were the result of an agreement with Manfred B. Lee. Fred Dannay wasn't involved and I think he wouldn't have agreed with the books themselves. He let Manfred handle these contracts in order to focus on his one true passion: EQMM"
Pseudonyms Halsey Clark, Richard Hale Curtis, Richard Deeming, Max Franklin, Ellery Queen, Lee Davis Willoughby, Emily Moor, Nick Morino.

* Death Spins the Platter - Wife or Death - The Copper Frame - Shoot the Scene - 
   Losers, Weepers - Why So Dead? - How goes the Murder? -Which way to Die? -
   What's in the Dark - The Black Hearts Murder

Fletcher Flora (1914-1968) wrote various "sensational" stories during the 40's and 50's. Flora started writing right at the end of the pulp era, for magazines like 'Dime Detective'. Then he moved on to do some 60 stories for the digests (Pursuit, EQMM, Suspect, etc). He coauthored Hildegarde Withers' Makes the Scene with Stuart Palmer, and ghosted a couple of books for Ellery Queen. He also did about 15 paperback originals under his own name (all involving suspense & lust). His mystery output includes over sixty short stories and sixteen novels. The Hot Shot and Strange Sisters are among his credits.
Major genre: Crime and/or Mystery

Henry Kane, (b. 1918 - d. 1988) Initially a lawyer, author of To Die or Not to Die, The Midnight Man, and other works is probably the least known of the Ellery Queen authors. Perhaps it was his Deadly Finger, a medical suspense novel, which drew the attention of the cousins Queen. Kane also found time to write a number of episodes for tv’s Martin Kane, Private Eye. If you like a slice of humor with your hardboiled yeggs, Kane’s your man. Pseudonym: Anthony McCall

Milton Lesser, (b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Aug 7, 1928 - d. Feb 22,2008), is better known as Science Fiction author "Stephen Marlowe", especially for The Lighthouse at the End of the World, but his mystery work (e.g., Model For Murder) attracted Ellery Queen. He too began writing for pulps (such as the legendary Amazing Stories) and has gone on to have a long writing career. He was awarded the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988 for The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus, and in 1997 he was awarded the "Life Achievement Award" called "The Eye" by the Private Eye Writers of America. He also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America. He lived with his second wife Ann in Williamsburg, Virginia
Pseudonyms: Adam Chase, Andrew Frazer, Stephen Marlowe, Jason Ridgway, C.H. Thames

Talmage Powell  (b. 1920 - d. Mar 9, 2000)  Powell began his writing career in 1942. He created over 200 stories for the pulp fiction magazines, including Black Mask and Dime Mystery, writing in almost every genre and for all of the top magazines. After the demise of the pulps, Powell continued to write another 300 plus short stories for fiction magazines such as Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Shayne, Manhunt and Suspense. During the 1950s and 1960s a number of successful novels were published. His Ed Rivers series is recognized as some of the best Private Investigator stories from that era. Powell also had written four novels under the Ellery Queen by line (Tim Corrigans-series) as well. Powell also contributed his creative talents to screenwriting and television work. Still active in the field, Talmage Powell has had a long and successful career by delivering suspenseful, intelligent, action based stories that any reader would enjoy. He died at a hospital in Asheville, North Carolina on March 9. 2000, he was 79.
Pen Names: Robert Hart Davis, Robert Henry, Milton T. Lamb, Milton T. Land, Jack McCready, Anne Talmage, and Dave Sands.

Walt Sheldon or Walter J.Sheldon (b. Jan 9, 1917 - d. Jun 9, 1996) was writing for the pulps as early as 1940. Having published over 30 stories for the pulps and being a contemporary mystery magazine author, Sheldon was a natural choice to assume the monicker of Ellery Queen, which he did only one time. It looks like he went in for those interminable secret-agent novels in the 60's & 70's. The blue kimono kill (1965) Devil's box (1968) Gold bait (1973) The house of happy mayhem (1967) The red flower kill (1971) The rites of murder (1984) The yellow music kill (1974) As Shelly Walters he wrote The dunes (1974), and as Shel Walker he published The man I killed (1952) and Tokyo escapade (1955)

Jack Vance (b. Aug 28,1916 - d. May 26, 2013) John Holbrook Vance sold his first story, "The World Thinker," in 1945. His first novel, Vandals of the Void was published in 1953. Better known as a Science Fiction and Fantasy writer, Vance has won several awards, including the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement. Pseudonyms: Peter Held, John Holbrook, Ellery Queen, John van See, Jack Vance, Alan Wade. Vance took the nephews offer because they gave him 3000 dollars a book, which was a lot of money then ! In his contract was stated never to reveal the fact that he had written the books. Theoretically he never took the name as pseudonym.
Which also accounts for the fact that Vance was forbidden by contract to sign copies of books "Jack Vance" written under the Ellery Queen pseudonym. He did however sign them "Ellery Queen" and initialed "JV" " Jack added further: "They did nevertheless take my good prose and made it appear he had written it himself to make their own little soup". He even refused to have the EQ-stories included in the planned VIE book set as the texts were so degraded or as he put it 'tarted up' . So the manuscripts were lost... and then partially recovered on the back of other manuscripts. An agreement was reached and the three books were to be published as a special EQ-annex. The three Queen novels: The Four Johns, A Room to die In and The Madman Theory will all be available in their original titles: Strange She hasn't Written and Death of a Solitairy Chess Player (1962) and the Man who Walks Behind (1964?).
Pseudonyms: Peter Held, John Holbrook, Ellery Queen, John van See, Jack Vance and Alan Wade. John Holbrook Vance was reserved for the detectives. Jack Van See for "First Star ,I see tonight " The strategy of having more than one name was intended to diversify and sell more but it never really worked. In the end he wasn't able to deliver and the idea impracticable.

Paul W. Fairman (b.1916 - d. 1977) Paul Warren Fairman wrote among others 'I, The Machine' and 'The Golden Ape' the latter with Milton Lesser. He was an editor and writer in a variety of genres under his own name and under pseudonyms. In 1952, he was the founding editor of If, but only edited four issues. In 1955, he became the editor of Amazing Stories and Fantastic. He held that dual position until 1958. His science fiction short stories "Deadly City" and "The Cosmic Frame" were made into motion pictures. Wrote the "Man from S.T.U.D." series of espionage spoofs under the pseudonym of F W Paul.
Pseudonyms: Adam Chase, Ivar Jorgensen, Robert Eggert Lee, Paul Lohrman, F.W. Paul, Gerald Vance, Lester del Rey, Clee Garson, E.K. Jarvis, Mallory Storm

William Roos, (b. March 25, 1911 - d. March 1,1987)
Wrote together with his wife Audrey Roos (1912-1982) as Kelley Roos their stories show events equally from the point of view of male and female characters. They wrote about a husband and wife team of amateur detectives who lived in Greenwich Village Jeff Troy and Haila Rodgers.

William Roos was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and brought up by his German-born grandparents. He attended Allegheny College but transferred to Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh to study drama. He began writing light, comic plays. Audrey Kelley was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but moved to Pennsylvania in her teens. She met William Roos at Carnegie Tech. They were married in November 1936 and moved to New York City. The idea to write mysteries came from Audrey after the birth of her daughter Carol. Their first book, Made Up To Kill, was published in 1940 by Dodd, Mead to favorable reviews and went on to a paperback edition.
William continued to write plays. His second play, January Thaw, became a high school staple. He and Audrey collaborated on a mystery play, Speaking of Murder, which ran for a month in New York but did better in London.
The Rooses moved to Connecticut in 1948 and to Martha's Vineyard in the 1960s
Also known as: William Rand, Clarissa Ross, Dana Ross, Marilyn Ross. Major genre: Crime and/or Mystery

Theodore Sturgeon (b. Staten Island, N.Y., Feb. 26, 1918, d. Eugene, Oregon, May 8, 1985) His name at birth was Edward Hamilton Waldo. His parents divorced in 1927 and his mother Christine later remarried, to William Sturgeon, in 1929. Around this time Edward legally changed his name to Theodore Hamilton Sturgeon, because he liked the nickname "Ted". He worked on TV scripts, gave lectures, teached a class, wrote book reviews and did introductions to other people's books. Of the 23 books he's written in the course of his career, only three are still in print in the United States. He used the conventions of science fiction to explore serious themes. Much of his fiction is marked by ironic, surprise endings.Sturgeon's best-known work is a novel (actually three interconnected stories) called More than Human, which won the 1954 International Fantasy Award, is the story of seven human misfits who achieve sufficiency and community through extrasensory perception. Sturgeon died on May 8, 1985, of pneumonia, in Eugene, Oregon.
Pseudonyms: Frederick R. Ewing, Ellery Queen, E. Waldo Hunter, Billy Watson.
Major genre: Science Fiction and/or Fantasy

Gil Brewer (b. Nov 20, 1922- d. 9 Jan 1983) His full name was Gilbert John Brewer born in Canandaigua, New York. He was the son of Gilbert T. Brewer, a New Jersey-born pulp writer, and his wife, Ruth. Gilbert T. wrote primarily for air war pulps. The birth of a younger sister to Gilbert in 1927 was, perhaps, the inspiration, and two more siblings followed (another sister and a brother). They had a fairly impoverished upbringing, their father addicted to drink and was later committed to a VA hospital after a mental breakdown.
Soldier, warehouse worker, gas station worker, cannery worker, book seller, resided and died in Florida
Other pseudonyms: Eric Fitzgerald, Bailey Morgan (Al Mundy series 1951-70)

Edward D.Hoch (b. 22 Feb 1930 - d. 17 Jan 2008), Longtime mystery writer and editor Edward Dentinger Hoch is practically an institution in the field.  He has published over eight hundred mystery stories In December, 1962 the author made his first appearance in EQMM with Death in the Harbor, #229. He made several entries since then but in May 1973 The Theft of the Circus Poster, was published issue #354, since then a continuous series of 335 original stories were published in the uninterrupted sequence so far up to May, 1998. His TV writing credits include episodes of "MacMillan and Wife", "Night Gallery", the "Alfred Hitchcock Show", and "Tales of the Unexpected". Mr. Hoch has served as president of the Mystery Writers of America. and made his home in Rochester, New York. He has also written mysteries under the pseudonyms Irwin Booth, Anthony Circus, Stephen Dentinger, Pat McMahon, R.E. Porter, Ellery Queen, R.L. Stevens and Mr. X. He was given the Grand Master award in 2001
When asked about his own models he answered the following in an 1996 interview: '...Certainly I was influenced a great deal by Ellery Queen. The first adult book I ever read was Queen's The Chinese Orange Mystery. '

interview with Edward D.Hoch  

James Holding (James Clark Carlisle, Jr.) (b. Ben Avon, Pennsylvania  Apr 27, 1907 - d. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Mar 29 1997)
wrote for Alfred Hitchcock's, EQMM and Mike Shayne's Mystery Magazines, under the name Ellery Queen and Clark Carlisle (his real name) Wrote several other juveniles. Also as: Ellery Queen Jr.  For EQMM he wrote a series of pastiches which were estimable mysteries in their own right.  In these series King Danforth and Martin Leroy creators of the detective "Leroy King" solve crimes on their own during a round-the-world-tour. The titles of these stories evocated the early Queen-work. 
  The Norwegian Apple Mystery, #204, November, 1960
  The African Fish Mystery,  April 1961
  The Italian Tile Mystery, September, 1961
  The Hong Kong Jewel Mystery, #240, November, 1963.
  The Zanzibar Shirt Mystery, #241, December, 1963.
  The Tahitian Powder Box Mystery, #251, October, 1964.
  The Japanese Card Mystery, #263, October, 1965.
  The New Zealand Bird Mystery, January, 1967
  The Philippine Key Mystery, #291, February, 1968.
  The Borneo Snapshot Mystery, #338, January, 1972.

First book:  The Lazy Little Zulu. New York, Morrow, 1962, and Kingswood, World's Work, 1963. - Mr. Moonlight and Omar - 1963 (Morrow) - Cato the Kiwi Bird - 1963 (Putnam) - The Mystery of the False Fingertips - 1964 (Harper) - Sherlock on the Trail - 1964 (Morrow) - Three Wishes of Hu - 1965 (Putnam) - Poko and the Golden Demon - 1968 (Abelard) - The Mystery of Dolphin Inlet - 1968 (MacMillan) - Robber of Featherbed Lane - 1970 (Putnam)- A Bottle of Pop - 1970 (Putnam)

Charles (West) Runyon (b. Jun 4,1928 -  ) Author of several detective and sf-stories. Wrote for magazines as Manhunt magazine, 
Power Kill (1972) was nominated for an Edgar in the category of Best Original Paperback There is also the sf-story I, Weapon (1974) where in a post-apocalyptic era  "herd men" were herded by humans who had taboos against sex with them, etc., etc. Some website report him deceased in 1987. However one blog reports him alive and (not so) well in 2007... He gave the following answer in an interview in that very same year to the question "Which of your novels would you most like to see reprinted and why?"  - ... The Last Score was rushed to completion as a work-for-hire, for Manfred Lee and Fred Dannay, and published under their byline of Ellery Queen. I still have a paternal affection for the book, and would like to see it reprinted under it's rightful parentage. " Charles woont op dit ogenblik in Texas.

 

TO OTHER  PAGES: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13